The Legacy

by E. A. Briginshaw

  He asked Jean-Pierre to sit up and he instructed Eric and Maria where to hold Jean-Pierre. “Okay, on three,” he said to them as he gently started moving Jean-Pierre’ shoulder in a circular motion.

  “One,” he said. Suddenly he pushed on Jean-Pierre’s shoulder as he pulled on his arm. Jean-Pierre let out a piercing scream and he blacked out for a few seconds.

  “Two, three,” the doctor said quickly. “It’s best if he not know when it’s going to happen,” he said in explanation. He gave Jean-Pierre another injection for the pain. “I think he should be alright now.”

  The doctor walked with Eric and Maria back over to where Chip was lying. “I’ll be back tomorrow to check on him,” the doctor said. “Do you want me to take a look at that ankle?” he asked Eric as they were walking. He had noticed that Eric seemed to be in pain as he walked.

  “No,” Eric said. “It’s just gout. I’ll be fine. I shouldn’t have eaten all of that seafood at the tour dinner.”

  Suddenly, one of the new guards came into the complex. “Onde estão os alemães?” he yelled to no one in particular.

  Maria ran over and stood in front of the German couple who were cowering in fear. Eric ran over and stood beside her. The guard raised his rifle and pointed it at Eric and Maria. “Quando você está tomando?” Maria asked.

  “Their ransom has been paid,” the doctor said trying to keep everyone calm. “They are being released.”

  * * *

  “Could I have everyone’s attention?” Detective Mitchell said to the people who were scattered around the room. Brian was out in the hallway sitting on the leather bench, but headed back into the meeting room when he heard Detective Mitchell.

  “We’ve just been informed that the German police have authorized the payment of the ransom for three of the hostages. Last night, ransoms were paid for Klaus and Anja Weber and Greg Schneider.”

  “Should we be paying the ransoms for the others?” Brian asked.

  “We don’t recommend paying any ransoms at this point,” Detective Mitchell said. “We still don’t know if any of the hostages are alive. The kidnappers have said they will release a hostage within forty eight hours of their ransom being paid. I recommend that we wait to see if they honour the deal for the first three hostages before we decide on our next course of action.”

  “We couldn’t pay the ransom, even if we wanted to,” said the man sitting next to Brian.

  Brian didn’t know if the man was talking to him or just voicing his frustrations out loud. “It’s hard to know what to do,” Brian said in response.

  “I’m Jamie Taylor,” the man said reaching out his hand to Brian, “and this is my sister Sarah.” They both looked in their mid-thirties and it was easy to see the family resemblance. “It’s our parents who have been kidnapped. This was supposed to be their trip of a lifetime and the start of their trip around the world.”

  Jamie and Sarah were struggling to come up with a way to save their parents. “This ordeal will be too much for dad,” Sarah said. “His heart won’t be able to take it.”

  “Don’t say that!” Jamie scolded his sister. “He’s pretty tough!” He stood up and started to pace back and forth.

  Detective Johnson heard the raised voices and came over to offer his help. “How’s everyone doing over here?” he asked as he approached.

  “We don’t have the money to pay the ransom,” Jamie said, “and we don’t know what to do.”

  “Well, remember that we’re not recommending the payment of any ransom at this point, but it’s probably a good idea to start planning for that contingency,” the detective said. Detective Johnson pulled up a chair so that he could talk with the Taylor kids a little more privately, but Brian couldn’t help but overhear their conversation.

  “Do you have any stocks or property that you could sell?” the detective asked them.

  “How much money do you think we could get if we both remortgaged our houses?” Jamie asked his sister.

  “I have no idea,” Sarah said.

  “I’d suggest you find out,” the detective said, “but don’t sign anything yet. At this point, we’re recommending that everyone wait until we know they’re still alive.”

  Brian gave a heavy sigh. The last thing he wanted to do was wait. He headed back out into the hallway and laid down on the leather bench underneath the window. Although the FBI had arranged for rooms for everyone at a nearby hotel, Brian had effectively camped out on the leather bench in the hallway at FBI headquarters. He was afraid to go to the hotel in case he missed any updates about his sons. He stared out the window and watched the clouds as they drifted slowly across the sky. The clouds were gradually getting darker and darker as it looked like a major storm was approaching. Brian was exhausted as he hadn’t slept very much at all over the last few days. As he watched the clouds drift by, he gradually fell asleep.

  “Don’t you let them take my babies away from me,” his wife said to him in his dream.

  “I don’t know what to do,” Brian said. “The FBI detective said we shouldn’t pay any ransoms until we find out if the first three hostages have been released alive.”

  “They’re not his kids,” Jean said. “They’re ours, and you promised me you’d take care of them for me.”

  “I know. I just wish I knew if they were still alive.”

  “They are. I can feel it in my soul, but you’re going to have to do something soon to save them. They’re running out of time.”

  Brian was jolted awake by a huge crack of thunder and a bolt of lightning that hit almost simultaneously. Houston was now in the midst of a major thunderstorm and the lightning strike had just knocked out the power in the building.

  “Don’t worry,” Brian heard Detective Mitchell shout from inside the meeting room. “We have a backup generator and the power should be back on within a minute or two.”

  Sure enough, the lights came back on in the meeting room within a few seconds. Brian headed out of the darkened hallway and back into the meeting room. He saw a woman crying by herself at the back of the room. He remembered her from the first time he had arrived at FBI headquarters. “I’m sure everything will turn out okay,” Brian said trying to console her.

  “No it won’t,” she said. “My husband is refusing to pay any ransom.”

  “The FBI doesn’t want us to pay any additional ransoms until we know if the three German hostages have been released unharmed,” Brian said. “I’m sure your husband will pay to have your son or daughter released once we know.”

  “It’s my daughter Sylvia and her husband Jean-Pierre that have been kidnapped,” the woman said. “I’m Elizabeth Noble,” she said as she wiped the tears from her face, “and that’s my husband who is putting on his coat to leave.” Brian looked toward the front of the room and could see the man talking to Detective Mitchell. He finished putting on his coat and then left.

  “I’m Brian Baxter,” Brian said to the woman. “It’s a stressful time for all of us,” he continued, trying to reassure her. “I’m sure he’ll be back. Tell me about your daughter.”

  “Sylvia is our only child,” Elizabeth said. “She’s been my whole life. She was backpacking across Europe with some of her classmates after they finished college when she met Jean-Pierre in France. At first, we thought it was just a summer romance but he followed her back to the States. My husband never really approved and I didn’t really at first either, but I could see that Sylvia was madly in love with him. My husband was convinced that he was just after our money. When they told us they were getting married, my husband told Sylvia that he’d cut her off if she went through with it. I think he thought they’d call the wedding off. But they didn’t and now they’ve got two kids that I’ve never even seen.”

  Elizabeth broke into an uncontrollable sob. Brian put his arm around her to console her but she continued to cry and cry. “I’m so sorry,” she said after about five minutes. She pulled herself away from Brian and tried to compose herself. “Here I am going
on about my problems and you’ve got one of your own family that’s been kidnapped.”

  “Two actually,” Brian said. “My two sons Eric and Chip were kidnapped.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Elizabeth said. “Tell me about them.”

  “Well Eric is my oldest,” Brian said. “He just finished school up in Canada, which is where we’re from, and just started his career as a financial planner. Chip is my youngest son and he’s an Olympic athlete, which is why we were in Brazil.”

  “I can tell you’re proud of both of them,” Elizabeth said.

  “They mean the world to me,” Brian said.

  Brian looked at the front of the room and saw Elizabeth’s husband coming back in. “See, I told you he’d be back. He probably just went for a walk to relieve some of the stress.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Elizabeth said. “Thanks for listening to me,” she said reaching out to touch Brian’s hand.

  “We all have to stick together to get through this,” Brian said.

  *** Chapter 19 ***

  Eric and Maria watched as the guard placed hoods over the heads of the German couple. They were tied together with about ten feet of rope and headed off into the forest with one guard at the front and the doctor trailing behind.

  They walked for several kilometres through the forest. However, they didn’t fall as much as they had on their journey there as the doctor warned them about logs or bushes that could cause them to trip. After their trek, they were loaded into a small jeep which drove for several more kilometres through the rainforest. The jeep stopped just before they came to a trail, if you could call it that, but it at least had tire tracks from other vehicles that had gone the same way.

  “We’re going to remove your hoods,” the doctor said, “but don’t attempt to call out if you see anyone or the guard will shoot you. We’ve still got a long way to go.” The guard had the rifle sitting on his lap pointed at the two hostages.

  They continued driving down the trail which eventually connected to a main road. The German couple were filled with hope as the jeep drove down the main road as they could tell they were getting closer and closer to civilization again. But their hope instantly turned to fear again as the jeep turned off the main road and onto another trail that headed back into another part of the rainforest. Suddenly the jeep slowed down in the middle of nowhere and then turned around in a small clearing.

  The guard pointed the rifle at them and waved for them to get out of the jeep. “Please don’t kill us,” Klaus said as he held his wife tightly in his arms, putting his body between her and the gunman. “We didn’t see your faces and we won’t say a word, I promise.” He could see that the gunman didn’t understand a word he was saying and his eyes showed that he didn’t care. Klaus was sure they were going to be executed and left for dead in the forest.

  “Just follow this trail back to the main road,” the doctor said. “It’s about ten kilometres so it will take you a while to get there. You should be able to flag down someone on that road who will take you to safety. Good luck.”

  The jeep then sped off down the trail. Klaus and Anja Weber just stood there hugging each other for several minutes. They were together, alive and free. They each took a deep breath as they started their walk back toward civilization and the rest of their lives.

  * * *

  About two hours after the German couple had been led off into the forest, Eric and Maria heard some shouting among the guards. Suddenly the chief guard came walking into the compound with his rifle raised. His face was badly bruised and scarred. He was obviously the one that had been beaten for leaving his post. As he approached, he raised his rifle and pointed it directly at Maria.

  “É hora de você pagar, você cadela!” he yelled at Maria.

  Eric jumped to his feet and stood between Maria and the chief. But another guard came into the compound and positioned his rifle just a few inches from Eric’s head.

  “Ela vai ser o que ela merece!” the guard yelled at Eric. Eric had no idea what was going on.

  “It’s alright,” Maria said to Eric. “They can’t hurt me.” She lied, because she knew exactly what the guards were going to do but she didn’t want Eric to get shot on her behalf.

  The guards led Maria down toward the river. They stopped by a tree and tied her hands above her head to an overhanging branch. The chief put down his rifle and started to undo his pants. Maria tried to kick him in the groin but he caught her leg before it reached its target. As he held her leg, he slid his hand up under her dress until he found the prize he was looking for. The other guard put down his rifle and grabbed Maria’s other leg so she couldn’t try to kick them again. The chief pulled a knife from his boot and held it up to Maria’s throat. He nicked her throat with the knife, just enough to draw a trickle of blood. But then he moved the knife down and cut the buttons off of Maria’s dress one by one, throwing her dress wide open when the last button went flying to the ground.

  Maria closed her eyes as the chief dropped his pants to his ankles. But he grabbed her by the throat and forced her to look at him. “Quero olhar nos seus olhos enquanto eu estupro você, cadela!”

  Maria tried to go numb. She could see the evil in this man’s eyes but she was determined not to let him see the fear she was feeling inside. He gave a sinister smile as he was about to drive himself into her. But then his expression changed. The smile turned into a look of confusion. His eyes showed a brief moment of pain, but then just became cold and blank. He slid to the ground in front of her.

  Maria had become numb. She hadn’t heard the gunshot that had just taken the life of the chief. But she heard the gunshot that took out the second guard. Suddenly, another man was standing in front of her. This man wasn’t wearing a mask like the guards. She didn’t recognize him but she could see the kindness in his eyes. “Você está bem?” he asked.

  She recognized the voice. The doctor had returned just in time to save her.

  *** Chapter 20 ***

  “We’d like everyone back in the meeting room,” Detective Johnson said to Brian. “We’ve got some updates to give everyone.” Brian headed back into the meeting room and could see several of the TV screens in the room lit up showing people from other countries. The first screen was showing a feed from the Japanese police headquarters, the second from German police force, the third from Australia and the last from Brazil.

  The detective was just about to begin his update when a lady that Brian had never seen before came walking into the room. “Welcome, Mrs. Davis,” Detective Mitchell said to the woman. “Yes, we’ve got an update. Please take a seat with the others.” She took the seat beside Brian and he could see her clutching a picture of herself, General Davis and their two kids.

  The Australian police were the first to give an update. “We’d like to report that the two million dollar ransom has been paid for Oliver and Lucas Williams from Sydney Australia,” the detective from Australia said. “The money was transferred to the account specified approximately two hours ago. We’ve been monitoring it and the money was removed from that account twenty two minutes ago. We are in the process of tracing where the money went after it left the account.”

  The Japanese police were the next to report. “Against our recommendations,” the Japanese officer said, “the Takahashi corporation paid a ransom of four million dollars for the release of four of their executives. They indicated they carry insurance to cover such events for their key executives.”

  “I thought we had agreed that we would not pay any additional ransoms until we found out if the first three hostages were released unharmed,” Detective Mitchell said. He was clearly frustrated that those agreements had been ignored.

  “The ransoms for the Takahashi executives were paid against our recommendations,” the Japanese officer reiterated.

  “We expressed our concerns,” the Australian detective said, “but in the end, we felt it was up to the family to decide whether to pay the ransom or not.”

  Bria
n’s heart sank in his chest. He wished he had just paid the ransom for his sons. It would destroy him if his inaction had cost his sons their lives.

  “Are there any updates on the status of the German hostages?” Detective Mitchell asked the Brazilian police. “It has now been almost forty eight hours since their ransoms were paid.”

  “We’ve just received word that two German people were found wandering through the forest by a local hiker,” the Brazilian police officer reported. “At this point, we don’t know if they are two of the hostages or just two tourists who got separated from their tour.”

  “Only two?” the German officer asked. “Ransoms were paid for three hostages from Germany.”

  “Yes, only two people were found,” confirmed the Brazilian police officer. “That’s why we’re not sure if they are two of the hostages or not. They do not appear to have been injured but they have been taken to a local hospital to be examined. We expect to have further information available within the hour. I recommend we reconvene at that time.”

  “Agreed,” Detective Mitchell said, “One hour from now. Once we know if they are the hostages, we’ll determine our plans going forward.” The TV screens showing the participants from the other parts of the world went black.

  “I want to pay the ransom for my sons right now,” Brian said to Detective Mitchell.

  “I understand how you feel,” Detective Mitchell said. “But we’ve still got three days until the final deadline. Just give me two more hours to find out the status of the German hostages. If they’ve been released unharmed, I’ll support your decision to pay the ransom.”

  “Listen to me,” Brian yelled at him, grabbing the detective by his shirt collar. “I want to pay the fucking ransom right now! I’ve waited long enough. I’ve got to get my boys back!”

  “You can’t right now,” Detective Mitchell said trying to reason with him. “They haven’t given us the account yet to be used for the next payment. The account used for yesterday’s payments has already been closed.”